Funerals begin for victims in grief-stricken town

And there he lay in his casket: in a jersey bearing his favorite football player’s number: 80. Peaceful and silent.

Grief-stricken friends and relatives packed the funeral for Jack Pinto here Monday, while others attended the funeral of Jack’s classmate, Noah Pozner, in Fairfield. They were the first of the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims to be laid to rest.

Members of Jack’s team at the Newtown Youth Wrestling Association, as young as 6 and as old as 14, arrived at the Honan Funeral Home on Main Street wearing gray T-shirts with the letter “N” on their backs for Newtown.

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Jack’s love of sports has been widely noted. Members of the George Mason University wrestling team, who didn’t know the boy personally but heard he was a wrestler, wrote his name on their headgear before their meet Sunday against Drexel University at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

In addition, Cruz wrote messages to Pinto on the cleats he wore during Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.

“RIP Jack Pinto,” read the message on one.

“Jack Pinto,my hero,” read the other.

Outside the funeral, his teammates discussed video games: ways to beat a certain level, which characters have the most powerful attacks, how many cheat codes are too much.

Suddenly, their discussion changed, but tone didn’t. It was a childlike curiosity, a seamless transition, but a stark contrast. They started talking about their friend.

As mourners stood in line to enter and pay their respects, a group of singers near the ramp to the home sang hymns, including a somber rendition of Amazing Grace.

Members of the National Association to Prevent Starvation, a non-profit based out of Huntsville, Ala., drove 24 straight hours Sunday to support Newtown. The singers at Jack’s funeral wore light and dark blue shirts with “NAPS” across the front and “Relief Team” on their sleeves.

In Fairfield, a green sign with black letters hung in a tree next to the Abraham L. Green & Son Funeral Home, echoing the sentiments of the friends and relatives of others grieving in the wake of Friday’s shooting.

“Our hearts are with you Noah,” the sign read.

Mourners, varying in age from children as young as Noah to the elderly and including Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, were gathered outside the funeral home before noon.

Noah’s uncle, Alexis Haller, had described Noah as “smart as a whip,” gentle and with a rambunctious streak.

Noah had a twin sister, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom and survived Friday’s rampage in which 20 children were killed. Noah had called Arielle his best friend, and, along with their 8-year-old sister, Sophia, the three were inseparable.

Veronique Pozner spoke about her youngest son to more than 400 family and friends.

When she told him “I love you,” she said, he would answer, “Not as much as I love you.”